Stow away.

v

Cole got to school feeling excited about the news his mother had told him but even more nervous about seeing Emma or worse, Melanie. He never wanted to help a girl up again if it led to being called a 'little piece of shit' again. Cole decided against waiting out the front this morning and instead, headed to the music room to work on a project he had with a girl who thought she could sing, yet she blamed Cole doing something wrong with the audio, because she sounded like a screaming goat. The music room doubled as a recording studio and cole entered the booth which had all the knobs, switches and buttons in the world, Cole only knew what a fraction of them did, but he knew the basics none the less.

He had a free lesson first up so he could spend however long he liked in there. Halfway through the lesson time, Cole completed editing the track 'For my Nick' from the screaming goats debut album, and then cleaned up the music room a bit. He sat at the grand piano in the middle of the room and plunked on the keys, wondering what to do next when Emma burst into the room with her eyes shut, almost soaking in the rooms atmosphere. He stood up immediately and looked at her shocked. She opened her eyes and realised he was in there "oh, wow! I'm so sorry Cole! I didn't know anyone was in here!" She couldn't help but laugh at the circumstance.
Cole then realised how beautiful this girl was. Even without her looks what her aura admitted was beautiful, her laughter was like a song, her smile fading into a smaller one, he could never get sick of it. He then realised he'd been staring at her without saying anything and she squirmed under his gaze. "Uhh, sorry I zoned out a bit, it's fine though, I wasn't doing anything. Do you play?" He gestured to the piano "Because I'm more a guitar man myself." He admitted. She looked shocked then warmed at the sight of the piano "yeah, I do play..." she mumbled. "Play something for me?" Cole asked, then immediately regretted the way he'd phrased his question. "Sure." Emma smiled sincerely as she sat at the piano, she looked up at him and patted the spot next to her. He sat where he was told and smiled under his breath. She started playing a powerful melody [-Til Kingdom Come by Coldplay-].

As she played the song, Cole looked at her and yet again was lost in her beauty, he smiled at the sight of her completely focused in the tune like she was alone, carefree. He'd only spoken to this girl once before. This was dangerous, thinking about a girl that'd he'd only known for two minutes like he'd been thinking about Emma.

She looked at him while still playing and smiled at him, with her mouth as well as her gorgeous green eyes, the eyes he could look at for hours. She got back into the song then finished the final chorus "just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me..." She sung the final lyric.

For a moment there was silence. Emma's eyes remained frozen on the keys and Cole had moved a considerable amount closer to her. He was looking slightly down at her face, then she looked up at him. "That's amazing" Cole said looking at the piano, finally scooting away slightly, realising he didn't want to pull a 'Mack'. "I know, I love playing the piano, the sounds are brilliant when it's tuned and properly played."
"I meant you, you're amazing." He stated, smiling quietly to himself. "Oh, thank you." Emma said quietly.
"Thank you for playing for me Emma." Cole started, "it's fine, I'll have to hear your guitar one day though" Emma chuckled. "Definitely, I will make sure that happens." Cole answered. Emma smiled at him. For a moment, They sat there, just looking into each others eyes, "I love your eyes" Emma whispered to him, almost hoping he wouldn't have heard. "My eyes? Your eyes are amazing. I could look at them for hours..." Cole admitted, a bit embarrassed.
The bell rang to put an end to the first lesson. They both were brought back to reality "I have history now, sorry. I'll see you round" Cole had to get out of there, "oh, yeah, um, yeah see ya round." Emma was panicking. That was just a huge moment and they both cursed themselves for being so 'head over heals' like for the other, they hardly knew each other... this was most definitely potentially disastrous.
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Cole raced to his usual lunch table with his hood over his head, things were definitely awkward now, once again he found himself cussing under his breath about how he'd managed 'the music room encounter'. Mack sat down opposite him with his tray of greasy food and a can of Coke Zero. he saw the way Cole was acting "dude, what's up, are the cops after you or something?" Mack joked, Cole pushed his own tray forwards and curled into his hood, lying his forehead on the edge of the table and his folding arms together in front of him on the table. He wanted to be anywhere but at school. "No, something much ... much ... much much worse." Cole explained, his voice muffled by the material of his hood. "Well what then?" Mack asked, oblivious. Amy bashed into Mack as she sat down like he had done previously and his expression was shocked yet pleasantly surprised. "What's up?" She looked to Mack before lying eyes on the blob of fabric that was Cole's head. "I don't know, apparently Cole's done something that the police don't care about or want him for" Mack said, confusing Amy. "Maybe he killed a guy..." Mack stated, looking off into the distance thinking hard.

Amy stared at him with a skeptic face "really?" She asked. "What?" Mack asked, more confused than anything, then he realised.
"Oh! The police would want him if he killed a man, of course if he'd done it right they wouldn't have known who had done it but still, we all make mistakes, I forgive you Cole!" He added. Amy laughed out of skepticism "sometimes Mack you've got to be faking the obliviousness" she then rolled her eyes and put her hand on Cole's folded arm, when Mack smiled a big grin at her with food stuffed in his mouth, "Cole, what's wrong?" She asked, sympathetically. Cole groaned. "Stomach ache?" She asked. He shook his hidden head, "is it a girl?" Mack asked. "why would it be a girl? He looks like he's in pain!" Amy asked Mack. "the effect women-" he pointed to Amy "-have on us men" Mack pointed to himself then Cole repeatedly. Amy hit his shoulder hard and he scowled at her. "Mack's right." Cole said, Amy barely heard him. "What?" She said, needing clarification. He lifted his head up to talk. "It's Emma, we had a moment." He shuddered and hid his face. Amy's face was priceless "I was right, wasn't I Amy?" He asked. Amy rolled her eyes once again "why's that a bad thing?" She asked. Mack burst out "really Amy?! They've talked to each other less than a few times and you're fine with them having a moment?" Amy raised her eyebrows in surprise that Mack had a backbone or cared about the way to go about building relationships. He directed his anger at Cole, "dude, you need to run, for the hills too. This girl is probably already planning your life together and how many kids she wants. Run." Cole looked like a deer caught in head lights. "I can't settle down! My life's just begun! I can't have kids or get married. I'm not even 20!" He started breathing heavily, and eventually hid his head again in the cotton of his hood. "Cole, you need to calm down" Amy said, while glaring at Mack. Cole lifted his head to look at her. "Why?"

She responded "because do you really think that anything Mack says is true or slightly accurate? We live in a modern society where women are no longer looking for a husband but rather a career in our day and at our age. If this girl is worth it, she's freaking out too. Trust me..." Cole stopped breathing heavily and returned to normal, although the look of fear still somewhat on his face "you really think she's freaking out too?" He asked Amy honestly. "Yes, I do" she agreed.

"Well I think she's making a scrapbook of the memories to come alreeaaAAAAADDdddyyyyy!" Mack said like he was mimicking a ghost, haunting the living. Amy laughed while cringing at the attempt of humour, while Cole laughed quietly, hoping they couldn't tell his laughter was only from the nerves.
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Cole got home to find his mother already packing her bag for the month at lake Diego coming up during his break from school. One of his mum's/mom's clients had offered the use of his lake cabin there for the break and Natasha had gladly accepted this easy proposal.
The family came together for dinner that night, Cole and Cassy being relieved that school was over for at least a month.
"Mum/mom, can I just say how glad I am to get away from this town for a whole month" Cole sighed as he sat on his dinning room chair, readily awaiting the takeaway Pizza they got due to his mother already getting rid of the food that would spoil without them there for a month. It was the final Friday of the semester and that meant tomorrow morning they would drive up to the Lake Diego, up in the mountainous region, to enjoy being away from the usual routine.

"Well I'm glad to hear you'll enjoy it, we only have a few stops on the way there. About three so it's not too bad." Natasha smiled sympathetically at the exhaustion on her sons face. In a few months he'd be off to university/college, this was their last chance as a family to be together, at least for a while.